Physical Education lesson intensity and complexity affect subsequent on-task behaviour in the primary school classroom

Thesis

Objectives: To investigate the effect of (i) Physical Education (PE) lesson intensity and (ii) skill complexity, (iii) their interaction on students’ on-task behaviour in the classroom, (iv) the role of individual differences in the effect of PE lesson intensity and complexity on on-task behaviour, and (v) the mediation of this effect by emotion states.

Method: Participants were children (N=101, age 7-11) recruited from four primary schools in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. The intervention consisted of manipulating the aerobic intensity (low/medium/high) and skill complexity (low/high) of PE lessons. Children participated in all six conditions of the experiment: low intensity/low complexity (flexibility), medium intensity/low complexity (health related exercise), high intensity/low complexity (sprinting games), low intensity/high complexity (bi-lateral ball skills), medium intensity/high complexity (ball games), high intensity/high complexity (aerobics). Children’s behaviour in the classroom was observed every 30 seconds for 25 minutes before and after each PE lesson and rated as on-task or off-task. Participants completed self-reports on tablets three times per classroom lesson and once at the end of each PE lesson. Behaviour was analysed with multilevel models, as well as individual differences in participants’ response to physical activity (PA). Mediation through emotion states was investigated with structural equation models.

Results: No main effect of complexity on on-task behaviour was observed. No main effect of intensity on children’s on-task behaviour was found, although on-task behaviour after high-intensity PE lessons was significantly higher than before PE (χ_{(high intensity)}²=4.834, p<0.05), the effect size did not reach the cut-off for a small effect (d=0.19, OR=1.41). There was an interaction effect of intensity and complexity, and high intensity/high complexity was the only condition to reach significance (χ_(high-high)²=12.197, p<0.001) and had an effect size greater than d=0.2 (d=0.33, OR=1.82). There were individual differences in participants’ response to PA; those with the lowest attainment level and those who were least on-task before PE had the strongest response to PA, and girls had a more positive response than boys. There was no significant mediation of the relationship between PE lesson content and subsequent on-task behaviour by emotion states or PE lesson enjoyment.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that participation in PE lessons can improve children’s on-task behaviour in the classroom, in particular for those students with low levels of on-task behaviour. PE lessons involving high complexity and high intensity appear to have the greatest benefits for students’ behaviour in the classroom.

Authors: Heemskerk, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-8jwoad546
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English